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Lady Sovereign

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Lady Sovereign

Louise Amanda Harman (born December 19, 1985), known as Lady Sovereign, is an English MC[1][2].

Early life

Lady Sovereign was raised in northwest London's Chalkhill Estate. She has stated that she is a Manchester United fan, and has been since she was five. Although she says her upbringing could get dangerous or depressing in these surroundings[3], she was influenced by her mother's Salt-N-Pepa albums and words, and Sovereign began writing her own raps at the age of 14.

She began uploading some of her songs and a picture to various music Web sites. Then she dropped out of school and landed a job acting in an educational film about the life of an up-and-coming MC who also dropped out of Preston Manor High School at 16.

She convinced some producers that she could construct a soundtrack for a film, the demos for which landed in the hands of record producer Medasyn. He partnered Sovereign with Frost P, Zuz Rock, and Shystie for a male vs. female MC freestyle battle, titled "The Battle". It was released in 2003 on Casual Records. Every artist that was featured on "The Battle" has gone on to be signed by a record label.

Career

Lady Sovereign at the 2006 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival

"The Battle" began a string of singles that would push Sovereign into the spotlight. While "A Little Bit of Shhh!," "Random," "9 to 5," and "Ch Ching" were selling well, free Internet-only freestyles like "Tango" and "Cheeky" were becoming just as popular with the grime faithful. She began 2005 by appearing on the vital grime compilation Run the Road - both as a solo artist and with The Streets - then collected some singles and released the Vertically Challenged EP on Chocolate Industries.

She capped off the year by meeting with the American hip-hop star and CEO of the labels Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella Records, Jay-Z. With Usher and L.A. Reid seated next to him, Jay-Z asked for one on-the-spot freestyle from Sovereign before offering her a contract with Def Jam. With the fist-raising single "Hoodie" leading the way, Lady Sovereign released her full-length debut, Public Warning, on Def Jam in 2006.[1] Lady Sovereign is the first non-American female to ever be signed to Def Jam.[4][2]

When The Ordinary Boys released the single "Boys Will Be Boys", Lady Sovereign came back with a reply remix, featuring the music and chorus of the original, but with mostly her own vocals to the tune of "girls will be girls". In May 2006, she was featured on the Ordinary Boys single, "Nine2Five", a remixed version of her own "9 to 5", credited as "The Ordinary Boys vs Lady Sovereign." "Nine2Five" entered at #38 in the UK top 40 singles on downloads only, and jumped to #6 upon availability as a CD and 7" vinyl single during the week commencing May 22, 2006. This was her highest chart position to date and has helped to increase the media attention garnered by Lady Sovereign.

Lady Sovereign served as the host and spokesperson for Adult Swim and Chocolate Industries' Chocolate Swim.

On October 31, 2006, her debut album, Public Warning, was released, featuring "Random," "9 to 5," "Hoodie" and her new single, "Love Me or Hate Me," which was also released on the same day.[5][6]

On August 1, 2006, Lady Sovereign's new single "Love Me or Hate Me", a collaboration with American producer Dr. Luke, was aired on the radio for the first time in North America on Flow 93.5 in Canada. The harmony featured in this song references the Genesis track "I Can't Dance". She is also known for sometimes calling herself a midget (she stands at 5'1"[7], or 155 cm), where she says: "This is officially the biggest midget in the game".[8]

She began an American tour on October 23, 2006 and soon appeared live on CBS-TV's Late Show with David Letterman.

As of late 2006, "Love Me or Hate Me" is played in a Verizon Wireless advertisement for the LG Chocolate. It also appears on the Need for Speed: Carbon soundtrack, and is also the theme music for the show, The Bad Girls Club. "9 to 5" also appears on The Bad Girls Club, as well as being among the dozens of songs on the soundtrack of the Xbox360's version of EA Sports' FIFA World Cup 2006 video game and on the Ugly Betty soundtrack. Also "Random" appears on the Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix soundtrack. On October 17, 2006 "Love Me or Hate Me" became the first video by a British artist to reach #1 on the U.S. (and original) version of MTV's Total Request Live.[1][2] "Love Me Or Hate Me" was released in the UK on 29 January, 2007,[9] with the album following on 5 February, 2007.[10]

She has recorded a track for The O.C.'s new album, Music From The O.C. Mix 6 "Covering Our Tracks", where she sings The Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant".[1]

On December 31, 2006, Lady Sovereign helped ring in the New Year with a performance of "Love Me Or Hate Me" during the MTV Goes Gold: New Year's Eve 2007 special which aired on MTV. Her DJ for that night was DJ Annalyze, out of Rochester, NY.

She opened for Gwen Stefani in her 2007 The Sweet Escape Tour.

Unlike many British artists who sing or rap with American accents, Sovereign raps with a thick working-class London accent. She often makes fun of her peers for trying to sound American in their work. ("Some English MCs get it twisted/start sayin' 'cookies' instead of 'biscuits'."[11])

While performing at Studio B in Brooklyn, New York, Lady Sovereign told the crowd she was experiencing money problems and battling depression before exiting the stage. However, in a later performance at Avalon in Los Angeles, she completed her set without incident.[12] She later said that it was simply a bad day, and she's only human.

Family

Lady Sovereign has two siblings, an older sister, Chloe, and a younger brother, Richie. [citation needed]

Television Appearances

Lady Sovereign has appeared on Soccer AM several times, including a spectacular and much-played goal on the "Road to Wembley" segment. She has appeared in a feature story on the Cartoon Network and in an educational movie called X-ED which can be viewed on YouTube.

Feud with Jelly Donut

In 2006 a fan named Zach Slow made online plea to raise $10,000 for a "random" night with Lady Sovereign. The effort garnered wide media coverage, and was successful in both raising the required funds and securing the agreement of the artist to attend.[13]

The aftermath was acrimonious, with both sides exchanging insults in the San Francisco Chronicle [14] [15]. A local DJ known as "Jelly Donut", originally involved with the "random night" endeavor, attended a January 7, 2007 show in San Francisco. At the show, he dressed in a large jelly donut costume and organized fans to chant "Battle Jelly Donut" while they attempted to lift him onstage, ostensibly to "duel" Lady Sovereign. After much disruption, Lady Sovereign threw a drink on Jelly Donut, and spit towards his face. Security escorted Jelly Donut out of the concert.[16]

Discography

Albums

Year Cover Album UK U.S. CAN
2006 File:Lady Sovereign - Public Warning.jpg Public Warning 80 48

EPs

Year Cover Title
2006 File:Lady Sovereign - Vertically Challenged EP.jpg Vertically Challenged
2006 File:Lady Sovereign - Blah Blah EP.jpg Blah Blah
2007 File:LS-TWTD.jpg Those Were the Days

Singles

Full singles

Year Title Chart positions Album
UK U.S. AUS
2005 "Random" 73 - - Vertically Challenged EP
Public Warning
2005 "9 to 5" 33 - - Public Warning
2005 "Hoodie" 44 - - Public Warning
2006 "Nine2Five" (vs. The Ordinary Boys) 6 - - -
2006 "Love Me or Hate Me" 26 45 48 Public Warning
2007 "Those Were the Days" 88 - - Public Warning

Promo singles

Year Title
2004 "The Battle" (Featuring Frost P, Shystie & Zuz Rock)
2004 "Ch Ching (Cheque 1 2)"
2005 "A Little Bit of Shhh"
2006 "Blah Blah" (featuring Kalie Burgess)

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c d Catriona Mathewson (February 22, 2007). "Sovereign hits her gold mine". News.com.au.
  2. ^ a b c Jasmine Dotiwala (February 13, 2007). "Jasmine's Juice". The Voice.
  3. ^ http://www.winamp.com/media/music-artist/691765
  4. ^ Simon Price (February 11, 2007). "Lady Sovereign, Scala, London". The Independent.
  5. ^ "Lady Sovereign: Official Site". Def Jam.
  6. ^ "Lady Sovereign's Warning". Yahoo! Launch. July 17, 2006.
  7. ^ Lady Sovereign (2005). Ch Ching (Cheque 1-2 remix) (Audio CD).
  8. ^ Lady Sovereign (2006). Love Me or Hate Me (MP3).
  9. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/playlist.shtml BBC Radio 1 Playlist
  10. ^ http://www.hmv.co.uk/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=280;-1;-1;-1&sku=401163
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Newsweek was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ "Lady Sov at Avalon". LAist. 2007-06-26. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  13. ^ http://www.helpmegetrandomwithladysovereign.com/
  14. ^ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/29/PKGMQKFJDC1.DTL
  15. ^ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/19/PKGMQKFLP11.DTL
  16. ^ http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/39176929

See also

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